The Post & Courier
NORTH CHARLESTON — Calvin Whitfield’s contracting business has been successful over the years.
CCCS International’s portfolio includes contracts for logistical and construction work with Boeing Co. in North Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina’s Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in downtown Charleston and Myrtle Beach International Airport, to name a few.
Whitfield, who is African American, is well aware of the historical disadvantages that have long affected Black-owned businesses. He said he feels his company sends the message that minority-owned companies can do the work if given the opportunity.
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North Charleston has become a home for African American entrepreneurs fleeing gentrification on the peninsula where the lack of minority-owned businesses along the city’s bustling King Street is noticeable.
“It’s really clear that the gentrification in Charleston has been devastating to Black-owned businesses,” said Bernie Mazyck, president of the S.C. Association for Community Economic Development. “To some degree, North Charleston has benefited from that. Black-owned businesses have migrated to North Charleston and beyond, to Summerville ... Goose Creek. ... Now, those areas are also at risk.”
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The city has also partnered with a number of Black-owned organizations in establishing the new Opportunity Center off Rivers Avenue, which will house minority-led nonprofits and is also geared toward supporting minority-owned businesses with the Business Success Center and Women’s Business Center.